With the 2024 racing year coming to a close, for most of us, the main racing events of the year are pretty much concluded now. However, there are still plenty of different opportunities left for horse racing fans if you know where to look, and we’ve had a look at some of the biggest events for the latter part of the year to help you understand what’s left in the 2024 racing scene.

What’s Left in 2024 for Racing Fans?

Without a doubt, 2024 has been an incredible year so far for horse racing fans. However, it’s important to consider here that 2024 horse racing isn’t quite over yet, and there are still a few upcoming events – as well as the regular daily races – to look forwards to. As seen with the Irish bookmakers at Betfree, most still offer odds on racing events this year.

Upcoming Horse Racing Events for 2024

Though the main summer races have come to a close, there are still plenty of exciting upcoming events to look forwards to for the autumn and winter months. Of these, perhaps some of the hottest events still to come for the 2024 horse racing season – alongside regular daily races and meetings – include:

14th and 15th September: The Irish Champions Festival
1st and 2nd November: The Down Royal NH Festival
16th and 17th November: The Navan Racing Festival
23rd and 24th November: The Punchestown Winter Festival
30th November and 1st December: Fairyhouse Winter Festival
26th to 29th December: The Leopardstown Christmas Festival and the Limerick Christmas Festival

Given the above fixtures, it’s safe to say that there’s still lots of excitement to be had in the racing scene for 2024. So, who knows – we might just have a chance to see the return of exciting placings as we saw at the Grand National, where the winner – I Am Maximus – was no surprise at odds of 7/1, but the placings were quite the exhilarating combination of largely 28/1 and 40/1 winners. Definitely an exciting time to be following the horse racing scene – and any bettors who placed bets on those names were likely in for a very good day. However, the number of hugely surprising winners this year wasn’t massive , so will we see a shock high-odds winner this winter?

Winter Break Extension

While there are still plenty of upcoming events, it’s important to keep in mind that the Winter Break for flat racing has been extended for 2024, which means that horse racing fans can expect to see two fewer all-weather races. That’s definitely going to leave some punters feeling a little upset, but with a great selection of autumn and winter races still to come, it hopefully won’t feel like such a major blow.

Final Thoughts

While most of the horse racing events for the year have been concluded, it’s important to remember that there are still many exciting events in the lineup, so the racing year is far from over just yet. And, with fixtures such as numerous Winter Festivals to look forwards to, there’s a lot to keep in mind that could keep horse racing fans on their toes.